DB 113

TOPIC: MINERAL RESOURCES

PRESENTED BY:
M ARCHANA
Asst. Professor
Dairy Chemistry
 Introduction
“God sleeps in the minerals, awakens in plants, walks in animals, and
thinks in man” - Arthur Young
• Minerals are essential for the formation and functioning of organisms,
plant animals and human beings.
• In the modern era, human life needs variety of minerals to sustain
industry based civilization.
• Mineral resources are broadly defined as elements, chemical compounds,
and mixtures which are extracted to manufacture sustainable commodity.
• India has rich mineral resource base to provide suitable base for
industrial development in the country.
• Sufficient reserve of nuclear energy minerals is available in India.
• India’s reserves, as well as production are adequate in petroleum, ores of
copper, lead, zinc, tin, graphite, mercury, tungsten, and in the minerals
required for fertilizer industry such as sulphur, potassium and
phosphorus.
 Exploitation of Minerals
Depending on their use, mineral resources can be
divided into several broad categories such as
• Elements for metal production and technology
• Building materials
• Minerals for the chemical industry and minerals
for agriculture.
• When usually we think about mineral resources
we often think of metals but the predominant
mineral resources are not metallic.
 The picture of annual world consumption of some elements is as under:

• Sodium and iron are used at a rate of about 0.1 to 1.0 billion
metric tons per year.
• Nitrogen, sulphur, potassium and calcium are primarily used as
fertilizers at a rate of about 10 to 100 million metric tons per
year.
• Zinc, copper, aluminium and lead are used at a rate of about 3
to 10 million metric tons per year
• Gold and silver are used at a rate of about 10 thousand metric
tons per year.
• Out of all the metallic minerals, iron consumption is 95% of the
metals consumed Thus, with the exception of iron, the non-
metallic minerals are consumed at much greater rates than the
elements used for their metallic properties
Major minerals and metal resources of India
Uses of minerals
Environmental Impacts of Mineral Extraction
Extracting and use of mineral resources can affect the environment
adversely. Environmental affect may depend on factors such as
mining procedures, ore quality, climate, size of operation,
topography, etc. Some of major environmental impacts of
mining and processing operations are as under
1.Degradation of land.
2.Pollution of surface and ground water resources.
3.Effect on growth of vegetation due to leaching out effect of
minerals.
4. Surface water pollution and groundwater contamination lead to
occupational health hazards etc.
5.Air pollution due to emission of gases.
6.Deforestation affects flora and fauna.
7.Rehabilitation of affected population.
 Conservation of Minerals
Conservation of minerals can be done in number of ways
and these are as follows,
• Industries can reduce waste by using more efficient
mining and processing methods.
• In some cases, industries can substitute plentiful
materials for scarce ones.
• Some mineral products can be recycled.
• Aluminum cans are commonly recycled.
• Products made from many other minerals, such as nickel,
chromium, lead, copper, and zinc, can also be recycled.
• Strict laws should be made and enforced to ensure
efficient management of mining resources.
 Case Study
• Aravilli mountains which covers about 10% of
geographical area is rich source of minerals wealth.
• This mountain range play important role in control of
climate and act as mini water shed.
• On the request of environmentalist, Honourable Supreme
Court has passed the order to stop these mines.
• In Rajasthan, Marble mining near Rajsamant Lake has
lead to drying up of lake. Marble mining was stopped on
December 2002.
• Recently, mining in Goa has attained the attention of the
press and media and ultimately government has to take
the decision to stop this mining.
 Note
• Minerals found in earth’s core, mantle and crust
1. Core: The entire core is made up of nickel and
iron in short it is also called as NiFe
2. Mantle: In mantle most commonly found
minerals are magnesium oxide, olivine, garnet
and pyroxene.
3. Crust: 65-70% of earth’s crust is made up of
Fledspar which is a large group of rock forming
silicate minerals.